coffin



(No Model!) Y zshets sheet 1.

J..GOFF IN.-

APPARATUS FOR TOUGHBNI'NG STEELRAILS.

No. 378,083. Patented FebQ-Zl, 1888;

' 5 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE;

JOHN COFFIN, OF JOHNSTOWN, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOB TO THE OAMBRIA IRON COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

APPARATUS FORTOUGHENING STEEL RAILS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 378,083, dated Ifebruary 21, 1888.

Application filed December 15, 1887. Serial No. 257,999. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN OOFFIN, of J ohnstown, in the county of Cambria and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Apparatus for Toughening Steel Railroad-R-ails;and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention,such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to an improvement in A apparatus for toughening steel railroad-rails and other steel bars.

Patent N 0. 368,132, granted to me and dated August 9,1887, describes a process and apparatus for toughening steel rails. "The process as set forth therein consists, essentially, in the transfer of ahot rail after it has passed the finishing-rolls to a point laterally opposite a receiving-table, upon which the rail to be treated is shifted. The rail is then clamped at spaced intervals in firm contact with the table, and afterward inverted by proper mechanism, so as to'suspend the rail head downward above a bosh or water-tank and lower it therein. After the rail has been immersed a series of jets of cold water are projected against the head or tread of the rail a proper length of time, when the table-is reversed in position, thus removing the clamped railfrom the bosh.

It was indicated as an essential feature of the process shown and described in Patent No. 368,132 that the immersion and consequent partial cooling of the clamped rail should continue long enough to reduce the temperature of the same such a proper degree that theheat remaining therein after even diffusion through out the mass will exhibit a low-redrcolor if the rail is placed in the dark or protected from daylight.

The process of handling and partial cooling of steel rails just mentioned is designed to retain the structuralarrangement of their molecules by a rapid cooling of the rail when it leaves the finishing-rolls, the lowering of temperature being so graduated that a sufficient degreepf' heat will remain in the head, flange, and webof the rail to evenly heat the entire rail to a low red in the dark. The degree of heat retained in the rail, as just mentioned, has been proved by practical demonstration to eration is in progress.

be a proper temperature at which to arrest the cooling process and insure the retention of structural arrangement of the molecules given to the rails by the drawing process ,orsuceessive passages of the rail between the roughing and finishing rolls. If rails are allowed to cool slowly, a coarse weak structure will re- 'duced into the apparatus, and also rigidly.

held against torsional action when the rail is subjected to submerged jets of water while undergoing treatment to toughen it.

With these objects in view my invention consists in a novel construction and combination of parts toproduce an improved apparatus,which will be hereinafter described, and pointed out in the claims. A

In the drawings making a part of this speci fication, Figure 1 is an endelevation of the. apparatus employed to spray water upon the rail and hold it rigid while the spraying op-' Fig. 2 is a side elevation of a sufficient portion of the mechanism to show the general construction of the same.

A represents the base of the machine. It is preferably made of metal and of sufficient length to exceed the length of rails to be operated upon.

The base-plate Ashould be placed upon and secured to a suitable foundation of timber or masonry,and its top surface should be level or nearly so. 1

Upon the base-plate Athe upright bearings B are mounted in pairs. These consist of metal plates with stiffening-flanges a a, formedrintegral upon the edges of the same. .Thelower ends of the housingsB are enlarged to produce a broadened base for the same, and these bases are made sufficiently true on the surface that bears upon the base-plate A to render them stable, the pairs of housings being bolted in place upon said plate.

A series of pairs of flat columns or housings, B, are arranged at spaced intervals upon the base-plate A, and as these are similar in construction the description of one pair will suffice for all. The upper portions of the housings B (see Fig. 1) are curved toward each other, and the upper ends terminate in vertical shells or boxes B, said boxes being adapted to receive and support in proper relative position the shafts F F. Suitable cap-plates are provided for the boxes B, which are held in place by the bolts 0, so as to permit the shafts to rotate when actuated by means that will be presently described.

The shafts F are located parallel to each other and such a distance apart that proper spacewill be afforded between them for the twin gear-wheels E E, these wheels being located in apertures made through the boxes B near their center of length and secured upon the shafts F to have meshing contact with each other. The upper ends of the shafts F are extended above the boxes B to receive the bevel gear-wheels G, which are fitted upon them, and are secured in place so that the true lower ends of their hubs will bear upon the upper ends of the boxes B.

A shaft, H, is supported a proper distance above the bevel-gears G by the curved bracketarms B which latter are secured in place upon the sides of the housings B at their upper ends. (See Fig. 2.) The shaft H extends the entire length of the apparatus, and is furnished at one end with a fast and loose pulley or aclutchcoupler, (not shown,) by which it is connected to a source of power and motion to permit the shaft to be rotated when necessary. Upon the shaft H a series of bevel gear'wheels, G, are fixed in proper relative location to mesh with the bevel-wheels G, and through them communicate motion,when required, to the shafts F F. Thelower ends of the shafts F F are sufliciently projected below the boxes B to receive the rollers 0, these being secured to the shaft in any suitable manner.

The rollers G are turned upon their peripheral edges to conform in shape to the outline of the side of a finished rail, the diameters of each pair of metal rollers being such that the body of a rail may be introduced between the adjacent surfaces of these rollers and firmly supported laterally by the bearing-contact.

It will be noticed (see Fig. 1) that the configuration of surface of the rollers C is such as to give support to the portion of the head of the rail where it joins the web, and that the tread or face of the rail is free or uncovered. Below the lower ends of the rollers O O a bosh, K, is located, its support being preferably upon bell-cranks k, which latter are pivoted on suitable supports. A rod, L, pivotally connects the opposite ends of these bell-cranks, whereby they are all operated simultaneously to raise and lower the bosh K. This bosh should be somewhat longer than the rails beingoperated upon. Extendinglongitudinally through the bosh K are the jet-pipes J J ,which are connected to the water-supp] y by means of the hose 1) or other suitable flexible connec tion. The pipes J J are perforated throughout their length upon their upper side, the numerous small holes'thus made in the pipes affording a series of submerged waterjets, which, from the relative location of the pipes below a rail when it is gripped by the rollers O C and when the bosh is raised to its upper position, will impinge forcibly upon the rail so held.

It is important for the proper operation of the apparatus that the several sets of housings B B shall be arranged at short-spaced intervals upon the base-plate A.in a manner to insure the disposition of the series of mated rollers C G in the same horizontal plane, so that any deviation from straightness that may exist in a hot rail when it is being introduced 'endwiseinto place between the rollers will be corrected thereby, and slight vertical deviation or lateral crooks will be removed automatically by the mere introduction of the rail between the rollers.

In operating the device just described it will be of advantage to place the apparatusin such a position with regard to the roll-train that when the rolled rail has received the last or finishing pass it will be projected upon the ordinary saw-table, where the action of the saws will remove the crop ends. The sawtable may be of the same height as the rollers 0 G and in a line therewith, so that a simple endwise movement of the rail will introduce its end between the rollers O C, it being understood that motion has been transmitted to them through the shaft H and bevel-gears G G. \Vhen the rail has been properly introduced between the rollers G G, and thus straightened and held at numerous points throughout its length,to prevent torsional action, the bosh with its submerged jets israised, so as to immerse the rail. When the temperature of the rail-head has been sufficiently reduced, the bosh is lowered,and motion is again given to the rollers G O, and the rail removed endwise from the end of the machine opposite to where it entered. The degree of cooling will be determined by experience, and should be arrested at a stage when sufficientheat will still remain in the interior to reheat by diffusion the entire body of the rail, so that an even low-red heat will be exhibited when day light is excluded.

It will be apparent from the foregoing description that the process herein described embodies important changes in methods of manipulation, whereby the partial cooling of the rail under treatment is much more expeditiously effected and with less handling than in the process shown and described in patent of record, No. 368,132, and, further, that the machinery employed is more simple and of cheaper construction, thus affording equal ad- IIO to harden steel railroad-rails by means. of jets of water thrown upon their surface. I do not claim a process to harden steel rails or bars. My invention as herein shown and described is not intended for such a purpose, but consists in conducting the heat rapidly away from the rail while it is being held from twist-ing,the lowering of the temperature being effected in the open air,sufficient degree of heat being allowed to remain in the body of the rail to reheat the entire mass evenly, so as to exhibit a low heat in the dark and insure by this means a retention of the structural molecular arrangement given to the rail by the rolling process, a toughened structural mass resulting from the manipulation or process herein described.

Slight modifications of form might be resorted to inthe mechanical details of construction of the apparatus herein shown; hence I do not wish to confine myself to exact form shown; but,

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In an apparatus for toughening steel rails or bars, the combination,with a series of clamping-rollers that are adapted to fit the sides of a rail or bar, shafts that support the rollers, and adequate means for supporting and rotating the shafts, of a rising-and-falling bosh adapted to immerse a clamped hot rail in a suit able cooling bath, substantially as set forth.

2. In an apparatus for toughening steel rails or bars, the combination,with a series of clamping-rollers that are supported in a straight line and are adapted to bear on the sides of a rail at opposite points throughout its length, of a horizontal shaft, bevel-gears on this shaft, vertical shafts to which the clamping-rollers are affixed, and bevel-gears on these shafts that mesh with the gears on the horizontal shaft,

. substantially as set forth.

3. In an apparatus for toughening steel rails or bars, the combination, with a base-plate and a series of upright housings arranged in pairs on the base-plate, of a series of vertical parallel shafts, rollers aflixed to the lower ends of the vertical shafts, bevel-gears secured to the upper ends of the vertical shafts, a horizontal shaft supported to rotate, and bevel l gears mounted and secured upon the horizontal shaft to mesh with the other bevel-gears, substan: tially as set forth..

4. In an apparatus for toughening steel rails and bars, the combination, with a base-plate,

housings mounted on the base-plate, a series of vertical shafts, and rollersaffixed to the lower ends of these shafts, which rollers have their peripheries fashioned to conform to the sides of a rail or bar, of two pipes or tubes foramihated on their upper sides to throw water on a hot rail held between the rollers,and means for rotating the rollers,'substantially as set forth.

5. The combination, with a base-plate, aseries of paired housings secured at short intervals throughout the length of the base-plate, a series of vertical parallel shafts supported to rotate in boxes formed in the housings, and rollers fixed to the lower ends of the vertical shafts thathave their peripheral edges adapted to closely bear upon the sides of a rail or bar introduced between them, of a series of spurgears, a series of bevel-gears, a horizontal shaft supported in brackets, and a rising-and-falling water-bosh adapted to immerse a hotrail or bar held between the paired rollers, substantially as set forth.

6. In an apparatus for toughening steel rails or bars, the combination, with aseries of clamping-rollers adapted to fit the sides of a rail or bar, shafts for supporting the rollers, and ade quate means for supporting and rotating the shafts, of pipes or tubes connected to a source of water-supply and perforated to throw jets of cooling-liquid upon a clamped hot rail, and

a bosh supported on bell-cranks below the clamping-rollers, whereby a rising and falling of the bosh may be effected, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I have signed this specification in the presence of two subscribi ng witnesses.

J 0 EN OOFFIN.

\Vitnesses:

A O. M. BRENISER,

J. CRANSTON. 

